Hisey, Stammen finish in top eight

It was a milestone day for St. Marys' Tyler Hisey on Sunday at Marengo Highland High School.

Meanwhile at Marion Harding, Coldwater's Caleb Stammen met his goal.

The two area wrestlers earned All-Ohio honors at the state wrestling tournament. Due to the pandemic, the Division II tournament was held at Highland with Harding hosting Division III.

Hisey matched the school record with a third-place finish at 106 pounds after winning two big matches on Saturday, taking a loss in the semifinals on Sunday and then winning two more matches to wrap up his season at 45-3.

Meanwhile, Stammen, wrestling at 195 pounds as a junior, bounced back from an opening match loss to win two matches to clinch a podium spot, finishing eighth and closing out the season at 44-7.

Hisey, who qualified for state last season but didn't compete due to the tournament being canceled, opened the tournament on Saturday with a 7-5 win over Gannon Kazmirski of St. Clairsville, then came away with an 11-4 win over Zach Bellissimo of Perry in the quarterfinals to finish Saturday 2-0 and guarantee a top-eight finish.

"I knew I just had to win those two to get where I wanted to be," said Hisey. "I didn't want to take the long way (through the consolation round)."

Sunday began with Hisey facing Graham freshman Beric Jordan, who was 34-1 going into the match. Jordan jumped out to a 4-1 lead through two periods and handed Hisey his first loss of the tournament 10-3.

Already assured a podium spot, Hisey worked to move up the ladder by getting a 9-3 decision over Wauseon's Collin Twigg to advance to the third-place match against Bellissimo. Hisey jumped out early again in the rematch from Saturday, holding on for a 7-4 to clinch third.

"Relief and excitement," said Hisey when asked about his reaction once his final match ended.

Stammen started Saturday with a tough 10-0 loss to Delta's Max Hoffman to drop into the consolation round, needing two wins on Saturday to reach the podium. Stammen responded, pinning Kirtland's Anthony Gencarelli in 1:33 before earning the ticket victory with a pin of Smithville's Chandler Keener in 3:00.

"I came out timid in my first match," said Stammen. "Once my season was on the line, it kicked me into gear. Came back the next two matches and thought I wrestled well."

In the medal round, Stammen took a tough 14-2 major decision loss to Mogadore's Tyler Knight to drop into the seventh-place match against Liberty-Benton's Nathaniel DiRe. DiRe went out to a 6-0 lead and wrapped up an 8-2 win.

"(DiRe) is a real good wrestler," said Stammen. "He fought to the end.

"My goal coming in was to get on the podium. I met my goal and I'll try to get back next year to go higher."

For Celina junior Landon Engle, the hope to bring home the first podium finish in over 10 years were dashed on Sunday. Engle started in the 126-pound division against Alijah Stevens of Licking Valley in the opening round. Stevens rolled out to a 10-1 lead through two periods. Engle got an early reversal and two nearfall points in the third period to cut it to 10-5, but a late reversal by Stevens gave Engle a 12-5 loss and into a must-win situation for the rest of the day.

Next up for Engle was Cohen Bunting of New Concord John Glenn. Engle came out strong, leading 5-0 after one period and going up 14-1 at the end of the second period. A takedown early in the third period wrapped up a 16-1 technical fall victory.

Engle needed a win over West Geauga's Jack Sparent to secure a top-eight finish, but Sparent led 2-1 after two periods. Engle chose the down position to start the third period and got an escape with 1:39 remaining. Engle tried to get the takedown, but Sparent blocked and was able to get the takedown of his own with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to get the 4-2 win and end Engle's season at 44-7.